Celebrating 10 years of operations in 2019, the Pharmaceutical and Molecular Biotechnology Research Centre (PMBRC) has established itself as a leading research centre in the pharmaceutical, chemical and biologicals sciences in Ireland. Situated in SETU Waterford, it is one of 17 Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateways working with companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device, food and engineering sectors. A truly multidisciplinary team, researchers in the PMBRC include chemists, biologists, biomedical scientists, physicists and engineers, and the centre has established links with national and international partners in industry, academia and healthcare institutions.
What is the PMBrc Technology Gateway?
The PMBRC Technology Gateway is the function of the research centre which develops collaborative industry projects. The Technology Gateway team works with industry partners to understand their requirements, assembles a technical team with the necessary expertise from the wider research centre and secures funding for the project. Projects ranging from short term contract analysis to longer term research collaborations can be accommodated.
What facilities and technologies are available at PMBrc Biodiagnostics?
The gateway has an extensive suite of characterisation and analytical equipment:
- Materials characterisation suite – A wide range of techniques available including DSC, TGA, laser diffraction, DLS, nitrogen sorption, SEM, DVS, XRD (from Q1 2020), solid state NMR and powder rheometry.
- Advanced analytical capability – Including a wide range of chromatography techniques, mass spectrometry, NMR and ICP-OES/MS
- Formulation and drug delivery – Including blending, fluid bed coating and granulation, tablet compression, spray drying, aerosol jet printing, liquid/suspension formulation
- Biology labs – Microbiology labs (including pathogen lab), cell culture, DNA sequencing, PCR, protein purification and analysis.
What types of companies does PMBrc work with?
While our research is primarily focused on the pharmaceutical and biological sciences, our expertise can be applied to a wide range of industries. In the past we have worked with pharma, medical device, food, cosmetics, engineering, agri-product, biotech, and veterinary companies. Some industry collaborations include: materials characterisation and pre-formulation; drug delivery and formulation; chromatography; analytical method development; impurity identification; novel sensor and process technologies; and biomedical research and molecular biotechnology.
What supports and funding does PMBrc have available to help your company?
The PMBRC has a proven track record in attracting funding from national and international sources. The PMBRC has attracted over €3.5 million since 2008 for collaborations with Irish companies. Funding has come from national and European sources and from industry itself. Some of the schemes available to companies include: Enterprise Ireland Innovation Vouchers, Enterprise Ireland Innovation Partnerships, IRC Enterprise Partnership Scheme, European Funding and directly funded industry projects. The PMBRC has established links with national and international partners in industry, academia and medical care institutions.
What are your next steps?
If you have an idea for a new product, service or process, or are experiencing difficulties with an existing process, get in touch with the Gateway or check out their website for further information.